18th Birthday Party Venues in Adelaide

It can be difficult to find 18th Birthday Party Venues in Adelaide. As you call around you will find that lots of cocktail party venues in Adelaide don't allow 18th birthdays! We hope this list of venues that allow 18th Birthday Parties will make your search easy. Make use of the filter options above to help with your search... you'll thank us later! We also have a list of special birthday party venues in Adelaide for 30th birthdays, 40th's, 50th's, 60th's and so on.

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Why don’t most pubs and other function venues allow 18th Birthday Parties?

The reason lots of function venues don’t allow 18th Birthday parties, is because normally a number of the guests are still underage (e.g. under 18 years old). This poses a problem for the licensing requirements of the venue. For most pubs and function venues the law is that anyone under the age of 18 can only be on licensed premises after a certain time if they are there with their parent or legal guardian. Normally the birthday girl or boy has an idea about their 18th birthday party, and it doesn’t include inviting their friends parents!

Here are some ways of getting around the rules… but first let me say, it is not a good idea to plan a party and NOT TELL the venue it is an 18th Birthday. We have seen this before and it will most likely end in tears. The last thing you want is to pay for a function, only to have your invited guests turned away… or worst case scenario, your party shut down.

18th Birthday party ideas to get around the rules. If you discuss this upfront with your dream party venue, then they may make an exception for you!

  • If the venue is one of those where the underaged guests have to leave by 9pm, then start your party earlier; say 6pm instead of 7.30pm. Have a plan with the venue to identify the guests at the beginning of the night. For example, security is to ID every guest as they enter. Guests who are underaged will be added to a list (or even better… provide a list of expected underaged guests to the security so that they can just check off the guests as they come in). Perhaps the underaged guests will have to wear a certain colour wrist band. Make sure your underaged friends know ahead of time what the plan is. Have your speeches and cake before 9pm. Then at the end of the speeches just make an announcement regarding the time… Security can check off their list as the underaged guests leave.
  • Offer to pay extra for security. One of the venues biggest concerns for a cocktail style 18th birthday party is not being able to monitor the crowd. It’s a really serious offence for a licensed venue if an underaged person is caught drinking on the premises. So, if they can have extra security in place in your private function room, they may allow your party to go ahead when their normal venue rules are no 18th birthdays.
  • Tell your underaged guests, that if they are caught trying to sneak a drink, your whole party could be shut down. This tends to make people act more responsibly if they were tempted, as they don’t want to bear the shame of having your party shut down!
  • If you are having underaged guests attend your 18th Birthday, it’s a good idea to discuss with your venue a special drink option for them. Maybe a selection of mocktails that will make the night a bit more interesting for them! If you are running a bar tab and an alcoholic drink will normally cost you $8 – $10, then why not have a special non-alcoholic ‘mocktail’ to cater to your guests who are under 18.
  • If your best friends are under 18… get over it and invite their parents! You know they are just going to hang out in their own group anyway… Maybe choose a private function room that has a cosy lounge corner. Get the parents settled into the lounge with their own bottles of wine and platters of food. Ask the bar staff to make sure their wines are topped up… and go and have fun! It’s our bet you wont here from them all night.
  • Have a dinner instead of a cocktail party! Most restaurants will allow you to book a dinner party either in the restaurant or in a private dining room and have underaged guests attend without their parents. It’s likely they will want at least your own parents to attend! We once planned an private 18th birthday dinner party, where the group of girls dined together and the birthday girl’s parents dined in the restaurant downstairs. So the 18th birthday girl got to have her own private dining experience with her friends (think beautifully set table with flowers, place cards, personalised menus, linen napkins, charger plates, gold cutlery and crystal glassware… it was stunning). The girls had a great time sipping champagne (or non-alcoholic sparkling for those under 18) and cocktails (or mocktails). The venue loved this as they felt secure knowing that the parents were there should there be any issues come up… there weren’t of course!

Happy party planning. We hope you are able to find a suitable 18th Birthday Party Venue in this list of private function rooms in Adelaide. These venues will be happy to hear from you!